Beauty Begins with Mind and Body Regulation
During the quiet period between years, many people take time to pamper their appearance. However, Ms. Zhao, in her early thirties, faces a common dilemma: after achieving initial skin improvements, results seem less noticeable or even stall. Dr. Qu Jianhua, deputy chief physician at Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital’s Dermatology Department, explains that beauty is not merely surface-level. Her confusion is representative—many people place excessive expectations on facial care while neglecting diet, sleep, lifestyle, emotions, and illness impacts on youthfulness. As the body’s outermost organ, skin reflects overall health. TCM teaches “the heart’s brilliance appears on the face” and “the yangming stomach channel nourishes the face,” meaning skin health depends on internal balance. Thus, good skin requires both symptomatic treatment and fundamental disease management.
TCM states “a hundred thoughts affect the heart, internally harming the zang organs, externally damaging beauty,” and “sudden joy injures yang, sudden anger injures yin,” “joy and anger harm qi,” hence “all diseases originate from qi imbalance.” Emotions are deeply linked to health and beauty: stress causes premature graying, melancholy accelerates wrinkles, and emotional trauma leaves visible marks on the face.
Dietary moderation is essential for beauty. First, maintain proper hunger and fullness; second, avoid dietary biases; third, observe food restrictions. TCM believes individuals vary, and different foods affect people differently. Generally, seafood like fish and shrimp easily trigger allergies—those with allergic constitutions should avoid them. Spicy, stimulating foods generate internal heat; fatty, rich foods produce internal dampness—both damp-heat worsen skin conditions, leading to blisters and acne.
Regular routines are another key to beauty. Some people work late nights, party, surf online, or play mahjong until dawn, disrupting circadian rhythms and causing hormonal imbalance. Ignoring this short-term may lead to serious consequences over time.
Some spend money monthly entrusting their faces to beauticians, yet eat whatever they want and sleep whenever they please—this is ineffective. Dr. Qu advises: beauty is not only external but also internal. To preserve one’s appearance, one must begin with holistic mind-body regulation.